Aircraft electrical systems are important for providing the electrical power needed for the operation of the aircraft, as well as for supplying power for passenger services such as cabin lighting and entertainment systems. Aircraft electrical systems may also consist, in part, of numerous electrical cable harnesses composed of electrical wires that transmit input and output signals that govern the electrical operations of the aircraft engine. Such cable harnesses are frequently mounted and secured to larger support structures of the gas turbine engine, such as the outer surface of the fan case and/or other structures, in a cable harness routing configuration.
Importantly, cable harness routing configurations are specifically designed to direct the electrical wires to their respective terminals, protect the cable harnesses against vibrations and abrasions, optimize the usage of space in the engine, and meet aircraft engine design requirements. Aircraft engine design requirements set standards relating to cable harness mounting and routing arrangements that help to ensure that there is sufficient clearance between the electrical cable harnesses and other engine structures so that electrical cables are protected from damage, and electrical signal integrity is maintained at all times. These standards establish minimum height requirements for the mounted cable harnesses (i.e, the distance between the supporting engine structure and the cable harnesses), minimum requirements for the number of supports per unit length of the cable harnesses are required in order to satisfy cable harness weight distribution standards, as well as clearance requirements regarding the minimal distance between the cable harnesses and other structures of the aircraft engine.
In order to secure electrical cable harnesses to the outer surfaces of gas turbine engine structures and to mount them at a certain height above such structures in a routing configuration that meets such aircraft engine design requirements, known approaches utilize a complex metallic brackets, clamps, and fasteners. For example, US Patent Application Number 2007/0001062 discloses utilizing a clamping device, for grasping the cable harness, that is fixedly attached to a metallic bracket that secures the clamping device and the cable harness to the outer casing of a gas turbine engine component while supporting the clamped portion of the cable harness at a fixed distance above the gas turbine engine component.
A typical cable harness routing configuration in a gas turbine engine often involves the turning or wrapping of different cable harnesses, frequently having varying diameters, around one or more engine support structures, as well as the branching and the coming together of different cable harnesses at different locations in the routing configuration. Given that cable harnesses require a support for every specified unit of cable harness length in the routing configuration, such variations in cable harness diameters and turning angles at different locations in the routing configuration often precludes the possibility of employing a single clamping device and/or metallic bracket design for securing the cable harnesses to the support structures. Moreover, variations in clearance requirements depending on the location in the routing configuration may further preclude the possibility of employing a single metallic bracket design. As such, clamping devices and metallic brackets are frequently custom designed to accommodate variations in cable harness turning, cable harness diameters, and varying cable harness clearance requirements in the routing configuration. Therefore, a significant drawback related to the use of metallic brackets and/or clamping devices as cable harness mounting structures is the design complexity of the customized mounting parts, as well as the high part number count and associated costs.
Clearly, a system is needed that simplifies mounting structures used for cable harness routing in aircraft engines in order to reduce part design complexity, part count, and associated costs.